Engine, system and method of providing third party business valuation and associated services

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented engine, system and method for generating business valuations, scoring and/or flagging over a network, responsively to information input by a user remote from the engine, system and method. The invention may include a graphical user interface capable of locally querying a user to input the company information, at least one network port capable of remotely receiving the company information from the graphical user interface, and at least one engine communicatively connected to the at least one network port, which engine preferably includes a plurality of rules to generate, responsively to the input company information, at least one of a business valuation, a business score, and/or one or more business flags to be used as indicators in a network marketplace, for the company associated with the inputted company information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/308,659, filed Dec. 1, 2011, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/493,647, filed Jun. 6, 2011, entitled Engine, System and Method of Providing Cloud-Based Business Valuation and Associated Services, the entirety of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the financial aspects associated with a business, and, more particularly, to an engine, system and method of providing cloud-based business valuation and associated services.

2. Background of the Invention

There are over 30 million small businesses in the U.S., and over 200 million small businesses globally. These small businesses may be severely limited by a lack of knowledge regarding their respective businesses and the assets thereof. Over 85% of the small businesses that ultimately request a valuation to address these limitations do so in an effort to buy or sell a business, or to obtain financing and/or investment. Moreover, as the availability of investment monies, business loans and government grants has decreased due to a worsening in the economy, an ability to assess and reasonably present a valid valuation to the sources of such monies, grants and loans has become an absolute necessity.

This limitation on small businesses may create a ripple effect that affects other businesses. For example, retail banking entities may have difficulty increasing the numbers of or performance of small business loans; accountants may have difficulty servicing small businesses and deriving revenue therefrom; government grant issuers may have difficulty assessing the quality of prospective grant recipients; insurance agents and financial advisors may have difficulty explaining or assessing proper service levels for owners or principals of small businesses; large businesses may have difficulty assessing target acquisitions or quality partners; and legal professionals and similar service providers may have difficulty assessing quality clientele on which to focus services. As such, there exists an urgent need to generate leads and/or guidance for financiers, business brokers, service providers, service agents, and the like.

Web 2.0 applications are those applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, collaboration, and ease of use for offerings on the World Wide Web (WWW, also referred to as the Internet or a network). Web 2.0 thus provides an environment in which may be addressed the aforementioned chilling effect of the lack of understanding of, in particular, small business valuation on the transaction flow across the afore-discussed business parties. However, to date, web 2.0 technology has not been provided that addresses this lack of understanding in a uniform, easy-to-use manner, and that thereby remedies the chilling effect that this lack of understanding has on transaction flow.

Thus, there exists a need for an engine, system and method that provides an easy-to-use, highly valid, cloud-based business valuation, and that additionally provides relevant services typically associated therewith.

SUMMARY

The present invention includes at least a computer-implemented engine, system and method for generating business valuations, scoring, and/or flagging over a network, responsively to information input by a user remote from the engine, system and method. The present invention may include a graphical user interface capable of locally querying a user to input the company information, which may comprise at least general company information, company financial information, and company presence information.

The engine, system and method may additionally include at least one network port capable of remotely receiving the company information from the graphical user interface. The invention may further include at least one engine communicatively connected to the at least one network port, which engine preferably includes a plurality of rules to generate, responsively to the input company information, at least one of a business valuation, a business score, and/or one or more business flags to be used as indicators in a network marketplace, for the company associated with the inputted company information.

Thus, the present invention provides an engine, system and method that provides an easy-to-use, highly valid, cloud-based business valuation, and the relevant services typically associated therewith. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as discussed hereinthroughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosed embodiments. In the drawings, like numerals represent like elements, and:

FIG. 1 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 25 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 31 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 32 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 33 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Computer-implemented platforms, engines, systems and methods of use are disclosed that provide networked access to a plurality of types of digital content, including but not limited to video, audio, metadata, interactive and document content, and that track, deliver manipulate, transform and report the accessed content. Described embodiments of these platforms, engines, systems and methods are intended to be exemplary and not limiting. As such, it is contemplated that the herein described systems and methods can be adapted to provide many types of cloud-based valuations, scoring, marketplaces, and the like, and can be extended to provide enhancements and/or additions to the exemplary platforms, engines, systems and methods described. The invention is thus intended to include all such extensions. Reference will now be made in detail to various exemplary and illustrative embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary computing system 100 for use in accordance with herein described system and methods. Computing system 100 is capable of executing software, such as an operating system (OS) and a variety of computing applications 190. The operation of exemplary computing system 100 is controlled primarily by computer readable instructions, such as instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as hard disk drive (HDD) 115, optical disk (not shown) such as a CD or DVD, solid state drive (not shown) such as a USB “thumb drive,” or the like. Such instructions may be executed within central processing unit (CPU) 110 to cause computing system 100 to perform operations. In many known computer servers, workstations, personal computers, and the like, CPU 110 is implemented in an integrated circuit called a processor.

It is appreciated that, although exemplary computing system 100 is shown to comprise a single CPU 110, such description is merely illustrative as computing system 100 may comprise a plurality of CPUs 110. Additionally, computing system 100 may exploit the resources of remote CPUs (not shown), for example, through communications network 170 or some other data communications means.

In operation, CPU 110 fetches, decodes, and executes instructions from a computer readable storage medium such as HDD 115. Such instructions can be included in software such as an operating system (OS), executable programs, and the like. Information, such as computer instructions and other computer readable data, is transferred between components of computing system 100 via the system's main data-transfer path. The main data-transfer path may use a system bus architecture 105, although other computer architectures (not shown) can be used, such as architectures using serializers and deserializers and crossbar switches to communicate data between devices over serial communication paths. System bus 105 can include data lines for sending data, address lines for sending addresses, and control lines for sending interrupts and for operating the system bus. Some busses provide bus arbitration that regulates access to the bus by extension cards, controllers, and CPU 110. Devices that attach to the busses and arbitrate access to the bus are called bus masters. Bus master support also allows multiprocessor configurations of the busses to be created by the addition of bus master adapters containing processors and support chips.

Memory devices coupled to system bus 105 can include random access memory (RAM) 125 and read only memory (ROM) 130. Such memories include circuitry that allows information to be stored and retrieved. ROMs 130 generally contain stored data that cannot be modified. Data stored in RAM 125 can be read or changed by CPU 110 or other hardware devices. Access to RAM 125 and/or ROM 130 may be controlled by memory controller 120. Memory controller 120 may provide an address translation function that translates virtual addresses into physical addresses as instructions are executed. Memory controller 120 may also provide a memory protection function that isolates processes within the system and isolates system processes from user processes. Thus, a program running in user mode can normally access only memory mapped by its own process virtual address space; it cannot access memory within another process' virtual address space unless memory sharing between the processes has been set up.

In addition, computing system 100 may contain peripheral controller 135 responsible for communicating instructions using a peripheral bus from CPU 110 to peripherals, such as printer 140, keyboard 145, and mouse 150. An example of a peripheral bus is the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

Display 160, which is controlled by display controller 155, can be used to display visual output and/or presentation generated by or at the request of computing system 100. Such visual output may include text, graphics, animated graphics, and/or video, for example. Display 160 may be implemented with a CRT-based video display, an LCD-based flat-panel display, gas plasma-based flat-panel display, touch-panel, or the like. Display controller 155 includes electronic components required to generate a video signal that is sent to display 160.

Further, computing system 100 may contain network adapter 165 which may be used to couple computing system 100 to an external communication network 170, which may include or provide access to the Internet. Communications network 170 may provide user access for computing system 100 with means of communicating and transferring software and information electronically. Additionally, communications network 170 may provide for distributed processing, which involves several computers and the sharing of workloads or cooperative efforts in performing a task. It is appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing communications links between computing system 100 and remote users may be used.

It is appreciated that exemplary computing system 100 is merely Illustrative of a computing environment in which the herein described systems and methods may operate and does not limit the implementation of the herein described systems and methods in computing environments having differing components and configurations, as the inventive concepts described herein may be implemented in various computing environments using various components and configurations.

As shown in FIG. 2, computing system 100 can be deployed in networked computing environment 200. In general, the above description for computing system 100 applies to server, client, and peer computers deployed in a networked environment, for example, server 205, laptop computer 210, and desktop computer 230. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary illustrative networked computing environment 200, with a server in communication with client computing and/or communicating devices via a communications network, in which the herein described apparatus and methods may be employed.

As shown in FIG. 2, server 205 may be interconnected via a communications network 240 (which may include any of, or any combination of, a fixed-wire or wireless LAN, WAN, intranet, extranet, peer-to-peer network, virtual private network, the Internet, or other communications network such as POTS, ISDN, VoIP, PSTN, etc.) with a number of client computing/communication devices such as laptop computer 210, wireless mobile telephone 215, wired telephone 220, personal digital assistant 225, user desktop computer 230, and/or other communication enabled devices (not shown). Server 205 can comprise dedicated servers operable to process and communicate data such as digital content 250 to and from client devices 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, etc. using any of a number of known protocols, such as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), simple object access protocol (SOAP), wireless application protocol (WAP), or the like. Additionally, networked computing environment 200 can utilize various data security protocols such as secured socket layer (SSL), pretty good privacy (PGP), virtual private network (VPN) security, or the like. Each client device 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, etc. can be equipped with an operating system operable to support one or more computing and/or communication applications, such as a web browser (not shown), email (not shown), or the like, to interact with server 205.

The present invention is a web 2.0 online, thin client service that provides cloud-based business valuations and associated services, and that may additionally provide intellectual property and prospective business valuations and associated services. The present invention includes a networked engine, system and method that may provide the valuations, and that may additionally provide the equivalent of a FICO credit score for business, flagging to provide a marketplace for business seeking investors and acquirers, and various other services.

The present invention may preferably provide a simple process with a limited number of interactive steps posing queries to a requesting user, such as between 3 and 7 steps, preferably 7 steps, or between 3 and 10 steps, for example. The steps are designed to use basic, yet key factors known or readily available to the requesting user, as input to the rules engine of the present invention. Key factors may or may not incorporate networked and/or third party information as additional input, to provide a multi-tiered, highly valid estimate of business value. This valuation may be, for example, for a prospective business or prospective line of business, for a current business or current line of business, and/or for the intellectual property of a business as that intellectual property contributes to business value.

In a preferred embodiment, an electronic and/or written valuation report may be provided to a user as output from the engine, and responsive to the inputs to the engine. Such a report may be provided via thin client, thick client, mobile app, widget, or the like, and is preferably provided as software as a service (SaaS), by way of non-limiting example. As such, the presentation of the present invention provided to a requesting user, as discussed further herein, may likewise be provided as a thin-client, a thick client app, an app, a mobile app, a widget, or the like.

A report according to the present invention may preferably set forth the value estimates, and in addition may set forth detailed support for the value estimates, and as such the report may be an abbreviated report of valuation, or a detailed report of valuation. As referenced above, such value estimates may be multi-tiered, preferably incorporate at least the information entered at the aforementioned steps, and may additionally incorporate networked, locally stored, and/or third party information.

The present invention may focus on small to midsize businesses for the valuation and associated services discussed herein, as such an area has the greatest need for the services provided by the present invention. However, the present invention, may additionally have applicability for all parties in a transactional flow, such as larger businesses, wherein the larger businesses may or may not be seeking to acquire the valued-smaller business, and such as those offering loans, grants, and services, such as insurance, accounting or legal services. As such, all parties in a business-related transactional flow may benefit from the convenience, speed, accuracy, validity, and low cost of valuations and associated services provided by the rules engine of the present invention responsive to the requesting user and/or third-party information inputs.

The easy-to-use, thin client user interface (UI) provided by the presentation layer of the present invention may provide, for example, an optimized interface that may not only increase convenience, speed, accuracy, validity and cost-effectiveness of valuations, but that may additionally enhance conversion rates, increase visitor-ship, and increase search rankings. Further, an optimized UI may provide advertisements that may be targeted based on, for example, stored/tracked profile information and/or information entered responsive to the aforementioned query steps. More highly targeted ads are, of course, increasingly valuable as the targeted audience may be narrowed.

Yet further, tools/apps may be provided in a thin client interface, such as from engine 302 via the presentation layer as illustrated in FIG. 4, to enhance visitorship and time spent on the site, which may further enhance advertising revenues. By way of non-limiting example, FIG. 3 illustrates a number of tools/apps that may be thus provided. Such tools may include, for example, legal or accounting services, marketing assistance, capital management, staffing or payroll management, and/or accounting and finance.

The engine, system and method discussed hereinthroughout may be provided, by way of non-limiting example, by the exemplary system 300 infrastructure illustrated in FIG. 4. In the illustrated embodiment, the system 300 may include an engine 302 for performing the aspects discussed herein, shown as resident in the business knowledge layer 303. The engine 302 may be comprised of computing software that executes a set of rules that function to generate the aspects discussed herein, and hardware necessary to execute such computing functions as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Engine 302 may, for example, gather inputs from various sources, most preferably including at least the inputs received from the requesting user responsive to the aforementioned steps, such as the 3 to 10 steps, or more preferably 7 steps, discussed hereinthroughout, to thereby transform the inputs into valuations and associated services as discussed. By way of non-limiting example, FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary flow of a 3 step query process according to the present invention. FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary flow of a 7 step process according to the present invention.

The engine 302 may be, in a preferred embodiment, a rules engine embedded in the business knowledge layer 303. Typically, a rules engine 302 is defined to include a software component that readily allows for the addition of or changes to business logic in a process management system. A business rule is a computing statement that uses business logic to describe a policy, procedure or calculation. Business logic describes the sequence of operations that may be associated with data in a database to carry out the applicable business rule.

A rules engine generally separates execution code for the rules from the rest of process management. Thus, when a change is made to a rule or rules, the rules engine may evaluate the change's effect on other rules and flag any conflict without effecting the remainder of the processes. A rules engine may include a rule repository, such as a database, for storing the rules, a rule editor, such as a user interface, that allows users to define, design, document and edit the rules, a reporting component that allows users to query and report existing rules, and a rules engine execution core, which is comprised of the programming code that enforces the rules.

Function calls for engine 302 may be made to the AJAX stack 304 a, b, which may be provided server side for local engine 302 calls and client side for remote calls, as illustrated. Client side presentation may be made via the presentation layer 306, as illustrated, and client-side information may be requested and received thereby. The data layer 308 may receive various data feeds, and may store additional data, wherein such data may be received from the network, such as from the Internet cloud. Such data may be gained, for example, via directed search, spider or crawl search, data streaming, or the like. Such data may include, by way of non-limiting example, third party reporting (such as Dunn & Bradstreet, by way of non-limiting example), searching for positive or negative references to the entity being valuated, industry specific information, intellectual property information, taxation or public financial information, or the like.

Data in data layer 308 may additionally include, for example, a repository of educational information for requesting users, such as information regarding taking on investment for requesting users that indicate the requested valuation is made because investment is sought. For example, electronic guides may thus be provided and stored as system data, such as guides regarding buying and selling businesses, obtaining loans, grants, and investment, writing a business plan or investor presentation, or the like.

Likewise, industry intelligence may be accumulated at block 310. Such industry intelligence may be gained via the cloud, and additionally may be gained by the engine 302 based on the repeated running of valuations by engine 302. Industry intelligence may include monitoring of a website provided via the presentation layer 306. Such monitoring may include, for example, traffic monitoring, user feedback, and the like, and may additionally include, such as via the third party application interface 311 reached from engine 302, the use of third party monitoring, such as Google Analytics, Kampyle, Bizo, Clicktale, and the like. Industry intelligence may be accumulated by, for example, industry sector or customer type (i.e., licensee, individual, etc.).

Information may be provided to the API 314, for ultimate use by engine 302, by any of a variety of feeds, such as via the cloud. Therefore, information may be gained from a third party, such as via a search or the like. Information may further pass, for example, from third party applications (such as may be provided by credit agencies, Dunn & Bradstreet, governmental agencies, or the like) through the API 314 to the engine 302.

Key elements provided by engine 302 in the business knowledge layer may include the services 320 provided via application of the valuation criteria 322. The services 320 may include, for example, straight valuation based on the criteria 322 as applied to the information provided via the data layer 308, via third party applications and API 314, via industry intelligence 310 and via client-side 306. Services 320 may further include flagging, as discussed hereinbelow, to indicate a prospective investor, or other small business or large business statuses, for example, for indication to the business knowledge layer comprising engine 302. Yet further, services 320 may include a financial health or similar scoring, as also discussed hereinbelow, such as may be calculated pursuant to criteria 322 based on at least entered data, such as those data used to calculate the valuation service as referenced above.

The valuation service 322 may include, for example, the provision of a valuation report using only minimal information provided by the requesting user. Such a valuation report may additionally be generated using access to outside/third party information and databases. Further, the system 300 may allow for the use of the databases at the data layer 308 to securely store, and reproduce upon request, all valuations and/or scores generated. Thereby, valuation reports may be modified and/or updated, and such modification may occur periodically.

In an exemplary embodiment, the requesting user may receive a recommendation, such as via presentation layer 306, to return periodically to update a valuation, and/or to receive a modified valuation responsive to, for example, a change in the circumstances of the requesting business, or a change in a respective industry as indicated by the external information originally used in the initial valuation. By way of non-limiting example, a significant paradigm shift, such as the recent proliferation of tablet computers, might cause all parties that had requested valuations and that fall in verticals associated with tablet computers to receive an invitation to revisit an earlier valuation.

In an exemplary embodiment of a simple valuation in accordance with valuation service 322, engine 302 may perform numerous steps to arrive at the simple valuation. The engine may calculate a function for the year-weighted average of certain variables for which a value is collected for three years, such as revenue, pretax income, inventory and the like. This function is herein denoted as w(y1, y2, y3), where y1 is the value of the subject variable for the most recent year (i.e. 2010), y2 is the value for the previous year (i.e. 2009), and y3 is the value for the year before that (i.e. 2008)—that is, for example, w(inventory) is equivalent to w(inventoryY1, inventoryY2, inventoryY3).

The engine 302 may calculate a valuation multiplier as dependent on an industry Multiplier and a growth Multiplier. The industry Multiplier may be looked up externally by engine 302, such as by NAICS code. The growth Multiplier may be looked up by revenueGrowth and ebitdaMargin, such as by using a table similar to the example illustrated in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Lon Term EBITDA Mar in 5% 10 15 20 25 30⁰0 35 40 45 505 55 60.0 65 70 75 805 85 90⁰/ 95 100 5% 0. 0. 1 1.3 1.1 2 2.3 2.1 2. 3.3 3.1 3.9 4. 4.5 4. 5.1 54 5.7 6 6. 105 0. 0. 1.2 1.1 2 2. 2. 3.2 3.1 4 4. 4.1 4.S 5.2 5.E 5. 6.1 6. 6.7 7 15 0. 1 1. 1. 2. 2. 3. 3. 4. 4. 5. 5. 5. 6 6. 6.1 6.9 7.2 7.5 7. 20 0.1 1. 1.7 2.2 2. 3. 3. 4.5 5 5.1 5. 6.2 6.E 6. 7. 7. 7.7 8 8.3 8. 25 0.1 1. 1.9 2.5 3.7 3. 4. 5.1 5. 6. 6.1 6.9 7.2 7. 7. 8. 8. 8.7 9 9.3 305 0. 1. 2. 2. 3.1 4. 5 5. 6. 7.1 7. 7.7 8 8. 8.1 8.9 9.2 9.5 9. 10.1 35 0. LI 2. 3.2 3. 4. 5.5 6. 7. 7.9 8. 8.5 8. 9.1 9. 9.7 10 10. 10. 10.9

40 0. 1. 2.1 3.5 4. 5.7 6.1 6.ç 7. 8.7 9 9. 9. 9. 10. 10. 10. 11. 11. 11.7 45 0. i.c 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.1 7.5 8. 94 9. 10 10. 10. 10. 11. 11. 11. 12. 12.4 50 1 2 3. 4.1 Si 6. 7i 8.2 9. 10. 10. 10. 11. 11. 11. 12 12.3 12.1 12. 13.2 m 55 ii 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.5 9. 10. 10. 11.1 11. 11. 12 12. 12.1 12. 13. 13.5 65 1. 2. 4 5 6 7 8 9. 10. 11. 11. 11.7 12 12. 12. 12. 13. 13. 13. 14.1 705 2.2 3. 4.3 5.3 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 11. 12 12. 12. 12. 13. 13. 13. 14. 14.4 75 2i 3. 4.1 5.1 6.1 7.1 8.1 9.7 10. 11. 1 12.3 12.1 12. 13.2 13. 13. 14. 14. 14.7 805 2. 3.1 4.9 5.9 6. 7· 8 10 11 12 12. 12.1 12. 13. 13 13. 14. 14. 14. 15 85 3i 4. 5.2 6.7 7. 8.2 9. 10. 11. 12. 12.1 12. 13. 13. 13.1 14. 14. 14. 15 15. 90 34 4. 5.5 6.5 7. 8. 9.5 10. 11. 12. 12. 13.7 13. 13. 14. 14.4 14. 15 15. 15. 95 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.1 b.c 11. 12. 13. 13.5 13.1 14.1 14. 14. 15 15. 15. 15. 100 4 5 6.1 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 13. 13. 14. 14. 14. 15 15. 15. 15.S 16.2

indicates data missing or illegible when filed

The actual multiplier may then be calculated as:

If growthMultiplier>industryMultiplier then:

${multiplier} = \frac{{g\mspace{14mu} {growthMultiplier}} + {industryMultiplier}}{2}$

Else

multiplier=industryMultiplier.

Sellers discretionary earnings (SDE) may then be calculated as:

1. Sum the year-weight averages of . . . .

-   -   SDE=w(pretaxIncome)         -   w(ownerSalary)         -   w(ownerBenefits)         -   w(onetimeBenefits)         -   w(noncashItems)         -   w(interestExpense)         -   w(onetimeCosts)             2. Adjust to inflation;             3. Adjust to pre-tax growth, using the following logic:

$\frac{{{pretaxinfcomeY}\; 1} - {{pretaxIncomeY}\; 2}}{{pretaxIncomeGrowth} = {{pretaxIncomeY}\; 2}}$ $\frac{{{revenueGrowthY}\; 1} - {{revenueGrowthY}\; 2}}{{revenueGrowth} = {{revenueGrowthY}\; 2}}$

-   -   If pretaxIncomeGrowth<revenueGrowth then

SDE=SDE×0.05 (i.e. add 5%)

Else

SDE=SDE×0.95 (i.e. subtract 5%)

Next, the valuation value may be calculated. The SDE may be multiplied by the selected multiplier, and may have applied thereto a series of industry-specific adjustment factors which may, for example, again be obtained external to system 200 by engine 202:

valuation=SDE×multiplier.

Adjustments may include, for example:

1. Negative valuation adjustment; 2. Adjust to recurring revenue:

-   -   If percentOfBusinessRecurring is 80% or more, add A % to         valuation.     -   If it is between 80% and 50%, add B %.     -   If it is between 50% and 40%, add C %.         3. Adjust to intellectual property:     -   If more than 5 patents, add B %     -   If 2 to 5, add C %     -   If 1, add D %     -   If there are no patents, subtract D %         4. Adjust to percent of sales from top three customers:     -   If 0 to 25%, no adjustment,     -   If 25% to 70%, subtract C %.     -   If 75% to 100%, subtract B %.         5. Adjust to the “if the owner left” impact:     -   If remain the same, no adjustment,     -   If decline minimally, subtract−′D %     -   If decline moderately, subtract C %     -   If decline substantially, subtract B %     -   If plummet, subtract A %         6. If the valuation is negative at this point, it may be reset         to 0, or alternative calculation methodologies may be employed         by engine 202.         7. Subtract debt for recent year only.         8. Add cash for recent year only.         9. Subtract 50% of depreciation for recent year only.         10. Add fixedAssets for recent year only.         11. Add 80% of accountsreceveivable for recent year only.         12. Add 75% of inventory for recent year only.

Thereby, an exemplary valuation may be obtained. Of course, those skilled in the pertinent arts will appreciate that other calculation means, or adjustments, may be employed by engine 302, and further that certain calculations performed by engine 302 may constitute reportable, standalone calculations that may be output in a report by engine 302. By way of non-limiting example, a specific intellectual property valuation may be performed, either as a stand-alone report or as a part of the aforementioned business valuation. In such an embodiment, each patent or patent application may be assigned a value. For example, a patent's or patent application's value may be calculated as:

-   -   1. Assess Patent Office's assigned search fields for the         patent/application as percentage values of gross-domestic         product (“GDP”) (such as may be obtained external to system 200         by engine 202);     -   2. Assess patent breadth:         -   If number of independent claims=1, assign +1;         -   If number of independent claims=2 or 3, assign +2;             -   If number of independent claims >3, assign +3;         -   If at least 1 independent claim has 3 or fewer claim             limitations, assign +3;             -   If at least 1 independent claim has 5 or fewer claim                 limitations, assign +2;     -   3. Assess number of competitors with vertical market share         greater than 10% in the assessed area of GDP;     -   4. Assess patent's/application's value:         -   If assigned value=+5 or 6, then value is lesser of 10% of             the vertical market share in the assessed area of GDP, or             $2.5 million, or alternatively is the average of 10% of the             vertical market share and $2.5 million;     -   If assigned value=+3 or 4, then value is lesser of 5% of         vertical market share or $1 million, or alternatively is the         average of 5% of the vertical market share and $1 million;     -   If assigned value=+1 or 2, then the value may alternately be         assigned as $100,000, the cost of pursuing the patent (as         entered by the requesting user), or 1% of the vertical market         share.

Similarly, a patent's or application's value may be obtained by the engine 302 by gaining information external to system 300, such as via searching at blocks 310 or 314, in relation to other patent properties sold in the field of search, by way of non-limiting example.

Services 320 may additionally include a financial health scoring, for example, as discussed further hereinbelow. A score may be generated for each business participating in the engine 302 of the invention. Such scoring may be automatically generated pursuant to a valuation service, or may be separately generated, such as for a separate or lesser fee from a valuation service. Thereby, normalized across-industry scores for a large number of businesses may allow for expedited comparison, such as by prospective investors or acquirers, between those businesses. The scores may be provided via a simple search interface, and/or a search by industry, location, name, principals, email address, address, reason for valuation, financial information, valuation or score range, combinations thereof or the like.

The searchability of scores may be particularly advantageous if associated with the flagging discussed herein—that is, if a simple search can be performed to find businesses having a particular score or range of scores, and the businesses returned responsive to the search may be broken down by which ones are, for example, seeking investors, the present invention will thereby greatly facilitate the occurrence of investment transactions. Valuations, of course, may be made publicly available in a manner similar to the scores, and may thus likewise be associated with flagging, such as pursuant to permission received from the requesting user to make the valuation and/or scoring publicly accessible.

Further, the listing of business values, status, interests in partners, and the like greatly facilitate business transactions. For example, valuations and/or scoring may be comparatively provided in a transaction for a buyer, a seller, and a combination thereof after acquisition. These comparative values may serve to indicate whether the transaction should occur. Similarly, such comparative values may be readily available to business sellers, brokers, auctioneers, or sellers of distressed assets, such as in order to indicate proper bidding levels for purchase in an auction environment, or reasonable initial bids for purchase, for example.

The presentation layer, AJAX, business knowledge layer, and/or data layer discussed with respect to this FIG. 4 may be, by way of non-limiting example, Java based (such as javascript, J2EE, JSON, jquery and JDBC). Database(s) of the present invention may be, for example, mysql, and searching may be performed, by way of non-limiting example, via Solr. Additionally, presentation may be made via the presentation layer 306 using html, xml, and CSS, among many others that will be apparent to those skilled in the pertinent arts.

Moreover, the presentation layer may provide the access to engine 302 as, for example, a widget. As used herein, a widget is a standalone application comprising embeddable “chunks” of code that can be embedded into third party sites by a user, such as onto a webpage, blog, or profile on a social media site. A widget according to the present invention provides a dynamic web app that may be shared across any websites to which the code chunks may be installed and embedded. Installation may occur, for example, by copying and pasting the embedded code, or widget, into the desired page. Simplistic widget functions may include link counters and advertising banners, and in the present invention may include, for example, providing of the scoring discussed herein pursuant to entry of only limited information by the requesting user. Needless to say, this widget may drive traffic to a base website associated with engine 302, and may additionally create significant value, and drive traffic, for any third party site onto which this widget is placed. The present widget is a downloadable application that looks and acts as a traditional app, but that that is implemented using web technologies such as JavaScript, Flash, HTML and CSS, for example.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary presentation layer 306 page for an arriving requesting user. As illustrated, the limited steps may be presented, either in a predetermined order or in a grouped or random order, to the requesting user, such as upon login and/or payment and/or completion of entry of account setup information. The query steps may include, for example, the categories of general company information, financial information, and plant and operations information. Thus, the entry of information by the requesting user may be as simple as completing three steps.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary aspect of the general company information step which, as illustrated in FIGS. 7-13, may be the first of between 3 and 7 steps to establish a business valuation by engine 302. As shown, the requesting user may be asked to enter, by way of non-limiting example, the business name, business category, industry and reason for valuation. As discussed herein, this information may be used to provide information regarding the output valuation or scoring via search.

Similarly, FIG. 8 illustrates the entry of general company information, such as address, type of company/ownership, number of employees, years since incorporation, and the like. Needless to say, although the queries related to the general company profile are shown as independent screens for the sake of clarity, and the queries of FIGS. 7 and 8 may be provided separately or in one or more combined steps whereby needed general company information is obtained.

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 show the accumulation of financial information for use in a valuation. For clarity, FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate the queries within these steps as provided in separate graphical interface (UI) screens, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that these queries may be provided in one or more combined steps seeking financial information, for example. As illustrated, the requested financial information may include revenue, pretax income, interest expense and owner salary/benefits, as well as assets in the form of cash, accounts receivable, inventory, fixed assets, general depreciation and total debt, and additionally the projected revenue growth, gross margin percentage, recurring revenue rate, intellectual property, debt-to-equity ratio and/or upcoming strategic pursuits. Needless to say, as discussed herein, helpful information may be provided with regard to the requested information at each stage, such as a detailed definition of the requested information.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate the assessment of operations and plant information. For clarity, FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate the queries within the steps as provided in separate graphical interface screens, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that these queries may be provided in one or more steps, for example. As illustrated, requested operations and plant information may include, by way of non-limiting example, effects of loss of key employees, percentage of revenue from certain customers, impact of the loss of the owner, portion of research and development that is performed in-house/outsourced, favorability of current physical plant, size and cost of physical plant, estimated future financial performance, and/or the level of competition in the field of endeavor. Such information, and other like information provided in FIGS. 7-13, may be subjectively provided, wherein subjective keywords are used by engine 202 for algorithmic conversion to objective categorical ratings, or the information may be objectively provided, the subjectivity of the query notwithstanding, such as through the use of a virtual and interactive sliding scale for user data-entry.

Thus, as discussed herein, the query steps may include queries related to general company/profile information, financial information (such as income, assets and growth factors), and operations/personnel information. These query steps may be broken down further into additional query steps, such as in order to gain additional information for a valuation and/or scoring. Such additional information may vary in accordance with an industry of the requesting user, a type of valuation or scoring requested, or the like. Other factors may be optionally added to query steps, or may be weighted if entered at the option of the requesting user. Such other factors may include, for example, third party information and/or publicly available information (such as public relations information).

By way of non-limiting example, a significant positive announcement regarding a joint venture entered into by the business of the requesting user may be deemed by engine 302 to have an appreciable positive effect on the valuation or score of the business of the requesting user. These other factors may be simple or complex—for example, the number and results location for the business on Google searches, above or below average marketing realizations for the company's website, and other similar factors may be used to indicate company value. Thus, this other information may be obtained from the requesting user via the UI at presentation layer 306, or may be obtained as otherwise discussed with respect to system 300.

Upon completion of the aforementioned steps, a valuation report may preferably be generated by engine 302. The report may be generated securely, such as using encryption via the thin client provided by the presentation layer, or via secure email, as illustrated in FIG. 14. The report so-generated may include, by way of non-limiting example, a valuation in any format, such as pursuant to receipt of payment for the valuation, and/or may include upsell and like offers. For example, the base valuation may include a single valuation value reached by engine 302, and/or may include a multi-tiered valuation reached by engine 302, such as a worst-case valuation, a highest probability valuation, and/or a best-case valuation. The report may further include, or may include only pursuant to purchase of an upsell, an enumeration of factors, and details related thereto, relied upon by engine 302 in reaching the valuation. Such factors may include an indication, such as a numerical rating, of the importance of particular factors in reaching the valuation. Needless to say, the importance of particular factors may vary in accordance with the subject tier of a multi-tiered rating.

An exemplary abbreviated valuation is illustrated in FIGS. 15-17. A more detailed valuation report is illustrated in FIGS. 18-31. As shown, reports, valuation and scoring may be customizable, and further may be stored, such as in association with a user login. Moreover, as illustrated, an aspect of the report may include recommendations for repeat business, and further may include cross-selling opportunities. By way of non-limiting example, and as shown, a valuation may include a recommendation as to when an updated valuation should be obtained, such as pursuant to a certain periodicity, or pursuant to changes in certain factors deemed key to the valuation. Further, valuations, such as in a private labeling embodiment, may be maintained internally to the requester and updated periodically, such as quarterly, for shareholder reports, for example. Likewise, a valuation may include cross-selling indications as to ways to improve valuation, such as recommending intellectual property attorneys to increase the size of the requester's intellectual property portfolio, prospective investors or accountants, and the like.

Related to the valuation, and/or as upsells for the valuation, there may be offered, for example, other functions also illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 14. For example, for an upsell fee, or for no additional fee, the valuation requester may participate in a flagging program, such as to indicate external to the secure system of the present invention that the requesting business is for sale, or is seeking investors, for example. Flagging is discussed further hereinbelow. Similarly, as shown in the exemplary illustration of FIG. 14, there may be offered a participation in listing services, for an additional fee or no fee. Such listing services may make locatable, such as via search, one or more of the company and valuation, some or all of the query step responses and/or factors related to the valuation, information related to the business, its industry, its location, its employees, or the like, and/or the businesses score or rating akin to a FICO score, as also discussed herein.

Business Scoring System

In the past, integrated valuation models have developed in a variety of sectors, such as in real estate. For example, the proliferation of sites such as zillow.com, MLS listings, eppraisal.com and the like allow homeowners to get a quality, highly valid assessment of the value of real estate. Similarly, the availability of credit scores for individuals, and creditworthiness ratings for businesses, have allowed for comparison between otherwise disparate individuals and businesses for reasons such as the issuance of credit, investment, purchases, and the like. However, prior to the advent of the cloud-based, FICO score equivalent for business provided in the present invention, such a value chain did not exist in a widely available and affordable form for consumption by large and small businesses.

The business valuation engine 302 discussed hereinthroughout, in conjunction with system 300, readily lends capabilities to allow for the present invention to provide a FICO score-equivalent for business. For example, the business score may be provided in conjunction with a valuation, or may be provided as a stand-alone, such as pursuant to payment of a separate fee. Further, the business score may be listed, or may be an aspect of a listing regarding the subject business that also includes other information, in accordance with the herein described services.

For example, and as illustrated in the flow chart of FIG. 32,

engine 302 may perform a foreground (if the valuation is the requested service) or background (if the valuation is not the requested service) valuation at step 602, as detailed herein. The engine may further, as discussed herein, have available to it, such as externally via the network cloud, valuations of other, larger companies, such as publicly traded companies and the like. The valuations of other, larger companies in the same industry as the business of the requesting user may then serve as a baseline, at step 604, for the score of the requested business.

A scale may be assigned for a rating across all businesses and sectors/industries, such as a scale of 1-800, and the healthiest businesses (i.e., the businesses worth the most) in the same sector as the requesting business may be assigned a score of 800 for that vertical at step 606. It may be further assumed that, for example, a business scoring 200 would have a financial status (i.e., the valuation performed by engine 202) that would indicate imminent failure of the business. Thereafter, a sliding scale may be applied at step 610 to the requesting business, i.e., if certain important factors, such as debt/equity ratio, generation of intellectual property, or the like, would indicate that a requesting business is 60% financially advanced over others in the space toward the financial health of the business(es) scoring 800 in the subject vertical, the business may receive a score of 200+0.6×800=680. The score may be output at step 612, such as via any of the methods discussed herein for outputting a valuation report, i.e., such as via thin client, thick client, paper output (mail),

email, widget, app, or the like, by way of non-limiting example.

Business Flagging System

FIG. 33 illustrates a flagging option to be used in accordance with the present invention. As shown by the exemplary flags, a number of flags may be selectable by the requesting/participating user to indicate a status, want, need, or the like of the requesting user's business. For example, a small business may be looking to raise funds, explore mergers, meet partners, or sell a company. Conversely, a large business, investor or bank may be looking for partners for, for example, SBIR participation, or may be looking to make investments or to make acquisitions in certain technologies, or the like.

By providing the flagging system discussed herein, these indications may be made when a party is located by a search, such as a search for parties having the desired status, in accordance with the discussion herein and on the thin client, thick client, app, widget, or the like UI from which a valuation would be generated according to the present invention. Additionally or alternatively, a requesting user may place such a flag in association with the user's website, such as by insertion of java thereon, or by association of a widget therewith, by way of non-limiting example, to indicate to visitors to the site, or to search engines that pick up the site, information with regard to the requesting business's status.

It almost goes without saying that the flags illustrated in FIG. X31 are exemplary only. That is to say, other types of flags, indicators, colors, markers, audio or visual cues, metadata, or the like may be used as a “flag” to facilitate the marketplace regarding or between flagged businesses in accordance with the present invention.

Revenue Generation Systems

The systems and methods of the present invention provides several opportunities for revenue generation to the provider of the methodology. The first is generation of revenue from highly targeted advertising. As discussed hereinthroughout, the present invention receives and tracks information regarding a business at the steps during which input is requested. Additionally, information incorporated from outside the engine of the present invention, such as a creditworthiness score or a Dunn & Bradstreet report, by way of non-limiting example, as well as information generated for inclusion in a valuation report in accordance with the present invention, may be accumulated by the present invention. All such information accumulated, namely the entered information, the information externally gained by the engine of the present invention, and the reported valuation information, may further be associated with an account associated with the report requester, which account may additionally include yet further information. Some or all of such accumulated information may be tracked to allow for highly target advertising to users of the present invention.

A second revenue generation model includes individual or subscription sales of the valuation reports and/or scores associated with the engine of the present invention. Subscriptions may be, for example, annual or monthly, for example. For example, the reporting and/or scoring and/or flagging associated with the valuation generation, as discussed herein, may allow for entry of payment information, such as locally to the requesting user, for receipt of payment remotely via the service provider, such as using a network connection between the requesting user and the service provider. Such a case-by-case payment schema may require the same payment from any requesting user, or may, for example, allow for the required payment to vary based on particular factors, such as the number of employees or debt-to-equity ratio of the requesting user. Payment schema may vary dynamically, and payment may be entered via any known method, including via entry of credit card or Paypal information.

An additional revenue generation model according to the present invention includes a private labeling and/or licensing system for accessing the reporting/scoring/flagging engine 302. Such private labeling may allow for certain of the herein-discussed entities to whom the present invention would be highly useful, such as an insurance agent endeavoring to sell a client an adequate level of insurance commensurate with a value of a business owned by such client, to privately sell access to the reporting/scoring/flagging engine. Private labeling revenue may be generated by, for example, first receiving, by the engine 302 provider, of an activation fee. Further fees might include, by way of non-limiting example, fees for each transaction consummated by the private labeler, and fees for providing technical support, hosting, bandwidth, and the like.

Exemplary Offerings

The following sections illustrate, by way of non-limiting example, exemplary embodiments in which the present invention may be offered in, for example, a private labeling or license context. However, these exemplary embodiments are not limited to private labeling or licensing contexts, and may thus be made available on a payment per transaction basis, a payment per bulk transactions basis, or like bases, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art in light of the discussion hereinbelow.

Accounting Firm

Use of the present invention to allow accounting firms to provide reporting and/or scoring for small businesses and small business-owner clients may provide increased frequency of client interaction, including on matters other than taxation. For example, a simple, yet highly valid valuation provided through the use of the present invention may attract more offline and/or detailed business valuations. Further, prospective valuation reports, i.e. reports regarding the effects of various business opportunities, such as taking on additional investors, may allow for the providing of a growth consulting practice that allows for businesses or business owners to predictively analyze how best to grow the worth of a business, either for business or personal reasons. Such a licensing or private labeling model may be based upon an up front payment, royalty per transaction, and/or a license based on number of employees of the business to be assessed and/or the accounting firm, by way of non-limiting example.

Retail Bank

Use of the present invention to allow retail banks to provide and/or analyze reporting, flagging and/or scoring for small businesses and small business owner clients may provide the ability to more effectively and efficiently attract better and more loans for small and emerging growth businesses and business owners. Further, current reports and prospective valuation reports may allow for improved and more critical risk management, broader accumulation of risk management data (such as by having more and better analysis across branches), and improved prediction of potential loan success. Such a licensing or private labeling model may be based upon an up-front payment, royalty per transaction, and/or a license based on number of branches or assets under management, by way of non-limiting example.

Insurance Firm

Use of the present invention to enable insurance firms to provide reporting and/or scoring for small businesses and small business owner clients may provide a conversation starter for policy issuance or coverage updating, as well as an improved conversion tool for financial advisors that offer insurance products, for example. Similarly, the use of the present invention by insurance firms may have applicability for buy-sell agreements with business partners, and/or for estate planning, for example. The present invention may be offered, in an embodiment such as this, in a secure manner, such as via intranet or behind a firewall, solely for use by licensed agents and/or account managers.

Yet more particularly, the present invention may provide an upsell tool for premiums. In typical embodiments, insurance agents offer, for example, term life and whole life policies, but the adequacy of the coverage of such policies, for a small business owner, is highly related to the value of that small business owner's business. Thus, the present invention allows the small business owner to be provided with a highly valid indication of business valuation, and, if the received business valuation indicates that the insurance coverage for the owner of that business is not adequate, an adequate policy may preferably be up-sold to the small business owner.

A licensing or private labeling model as discussed in this section be provided, for example, as a bundled financial advisory and assessment tool, or as a stand-alone. The licensing or private labeling model may be based upon an up front payment, a royalty per transaction, and/or a license based on number of reports run by agents, by way of non-limiting example.

Sale/License Broker

The present invention may enable brokerage/auction sites and firms to provide reporting, flagging and/or scoring for small businesses participating in the site, or with the firm, such as to find a buyer, investor, or licensee for the small business or its technology. By way of non-limiting example, the valuation, flag and/or score of a small business may be included in its searchable profile on a broker's site, whereby a prospective buyer, investor or licensee may readily view the valuation, flag or score of the small business. Thereby, the prospective buyer/investor/licensee may receive an indication whether a transaction with the small business is desired by the small business, and/or is of interest to the prospective buyer/investor/licensee.

The present invention in this exemplary embodiment may be offered in at least a partially secure manner, such wherein only limited information about the small business may be made available by the small business. A licensing or private labeling model as discussed in this section may be provided, for example, as a bundled tool, a web-based or widgetized tool, a hyperlinked tool, or as a stand-alone. The licensing or private labeling model in this embodiment may be based upon an up front payment from the broker, a royalty per transaction, and/or a license based on number of transactions engaged in by the broker, by way of non-limiting example.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the herein described systems and methods may be subject to various modifications and alternative constructions. There is no intention to limit the scope of the invention to the specific constructions described herein. Rather, the herein described systems and methods are intended to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the scope and spirit of the invention and its equivalents. 

1. A computer-implemented system for generating a business valuation, comprising: a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon computer executable instructions for providing a graphical user interface capable of querying a valuation requester for input company information comprising at least general company information, company financial information, and company presence information, of a company; a query engine capable of querying third party locations on a network for company-related information related to the company indicated by the input company information; a network port capable of receiving via the network the company information from said graphical user interface, and the company-related information related to the company from the third-party locations; at least one rules engine communicatively connected to said at least one network port, and comprising a plurality of rules to generate a tiered business valuation of the company responsively to the input company information and the company-related information; and a reporting engine capable of providing delivery to the valuation requester of the tiered valuation.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the local delivery comprises a thin client delivery.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the local delivery comprises a widget delivery.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the local delivery comprises an app delivery.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the local delivery comprises a secure delivery.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface is remote from the valuation requester.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface may query the valuation requester for at least one information flag.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the input company information is at least one selected from the group consisting of a third party payment score, a credit score, a tax return, liabilities, debt incurred and cash accrued.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface is accessible from at least two remote locations.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface is accessible by at least two valuation requesters.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the valuation requester is not associated with the company.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the company information is received through a valuation requester not associated with the company.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the company-related information includes information related to principles of the company.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the third-party locations include third party entities. 